ATLANTA - Hundreds of thousands of Georgia children might lose their health insurance as soon as March unless Congress takes action early next year, state officials say.

The statements follow congressional approval of a bill meant to bail out Georgia's PeachCare and similar programs in other states. But a new report shows that the state's share of the federal funds might not be enough to keep the program afloat, Community Health Commissioner Dr. Rhonda Medows said.

PeachCare is a joint state-federal program that provides health care for about 260,000 children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid but also do not earn enough to be able to afford private insurance.

Medows said the agency previously believed that the bill passed by Congress at least would give the state enough time to wait for another bill expected to pass sometime next year.

But a report by the Congressional Research Service prepared for the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate casts doubt on that, she said.

That report estimates PeachCare would face a shortfall in May, even after the recently passed bill takes effect.

But Medows said her department believes that if the numbers used in the report are accurate, she could have to suspend coverage for PeachCare families beginning in March. The coverage would be on hold until October, she said.

"I need an infusion of money," she said. The estimated shortfall of $131 million "is not chump change."

Further complicating matters is that the state appears to be powerless to fix the problem, even if it could find the money, Medows said. Georgia law appears to bar the state from picking up the federal government's slack.

"I truly, truly am dependent on an act of Congress to get this taken care of," she said.

Consumer advocate Linda Lowe said there was still time for the federal government to act.

"The people of the state of Georgia are counting on our congressmen and senators to fix this problem ... so that no child eligible for PeachCare goes without health insurance," Lowe said.

In addition to more money for the program, a long-term fix for the federal law authorizing PeachCare is needed, Medows said. Next year, the state could face a shortfall of as much as $171 million, she said.

Part of that is because of an oddity in the original federal legislation creating PeachCare and similar programs.

Under that formula, states' rewards are based on how many uninsured children there are.

But children on PeachCare don't count toward the uninsured numbers - meaning the more children who get on PeachCare, the less money that could be made available for Georgia.

Congress is expected to take up legislation to extend the federal end of PeachCare and other states' programs next year.

If changes are not made, the department could have to make eligibility requirements tougher and scale back coverage to meet a smaller federal allotment, Medows said.

"If that's what it takes to at least cover some of (the children), we'll do it," Medows said.

The department is urging Georgians to contact their members of Congress and press for quick action on at least the short-term fix.